The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition was filed by advocate K Suthan which was admitted by a bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice R Hemalatha. The petitioner went to the court to temporarily stop users from uploading or broadcasting any new content in social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and OTT platforms such as Netflix, MX Player, Voot and Zee5.
There have been many similar cases like this which was heard by six other High Courts and they have largely been dismissed or are kept pending by the Supreme Court. Suthan’s case sticks out because it also targets user-generated content, demanding they should also face a board of censorship like most theatrically released films in the country.
Any registered account is enough to start a channel, says the petitioner. That channel can be used as a platform to upload any type of content in social media giants such as Facebook and Instagram. The petitioner further said that there were too much adult content available online for children to view easily. This can cause an adverse effect on the minds of school and college kids. The PIL also says, for this reason, OTT platforms which is digitally watched, should also be censored.
This is not Suthan’s first petition. He has petitioned to the Madras High Court before, asking them to restrict the telecast of Bigg Boss’s Tamil version. In that petition, he was seeking CBFC-style pre-censorship for all entertainment shows.